The Safavids (Persian: صفویان) were a native Iranian dynasty from Azarbaijan that ruled from 1501 to 1736, and which established Shi'aIslam as Iran's official religion and united its provinces under a single Iranian sovereignty, thereby reigniting the Persian identity and acting as a bridge to modern Iran.

In the meantime, the navy-less Safavids lost the island of Hormuz to the Portuguese in 1507.

Later during Safavid and especially Qajar period the role of Shiaulema increased and they were able to exercise a role, independent of or compatible with the government's.

Safavids went on and conquered rest of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Khorasan; They became the strongest force in Iran, and their leader, Esma'il, now fifteen, was declared Shah (King) on 11 March 1502.

Safavid's power over various tribes was not strong enough to consolidate an absolute supremacy; tribal leaders remained those who had been tribal chieftains and consider their tribes to be independent.

This masterpiece is known as "Shahnameh of Tahmaspi" and was presented by the Safavid ruler to the Ottoman sultan Selim II in 1568.

Safavid Persia was a violent and chaotic state for the next seventy years, but in 1588 ShahAbbas I of Safavid ascended to the throne and instituted a cultural and political renaissance.

However, the Safavids were severely weakened, and that same year (1722), the empire's Afghani subjects launched a bloody revolt in response to the Safavids' attempts to convert them from Sunni to Shi'aIslam by force.

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SafavidSAFAVID[Safavid], Iranian dynasty (1499-1736), that established Shiite Islam in Iran as an official state religion.

The height of Safavid glory was at the time of the reign of ShahAbbas I (1571-1629), who encouraged contact and trade with Europe and transformed his new capital, Isfahan, into one of the most magnificent cities of Persia.

The presence at the Safavid court of foreign envoys and the growing number of merchants and travellers in Iran was later to have a great influence on the arts and literature in Europe.

Safavid potters developed new types of Chinese inspired Kubachi blue and white polychrome ware, due perhaps to the influence of the three hundred Chinese potters and their families who were settled in Iran (in Kerman) by ShahAbbas I. Ceramic tiles were produced especially in Tabriz and in Samarkand.

He had assumed control of the Safavids in 1494 AD / 900 AH (at the age of seven!), and appears to have gained a fanatical following by not only calling himself the representative of the Hidden Imam, but by claiming to be the Hidden Imam himself (later he would claim divinity).

The greatest of the Safavid arts was architecture; the Safavid mosques, palaces, and parks built during the reign of Abbas I are among the greatest architectural achievements in Islam.

Both Islamic and Western historians believe that Safavid decline began shortly after the death of ShahAbbas I. The later Shahs were never as firm or disciplined as Abbas, and the Empire slowly disintegrated under the invasive pressures of the Ottomans and the Uzbeks in the north.

SAFAVID[Safavid], Iranian dynasty (1499-1736), that established Shiite Islam in Iran as an official state religion.

The consolidation of Safavid rule was completed during the reign of ShahAbbas I.

Recognizing his military inferiority vis-à-vis the Ottoman Sultanate, Abbas accepted the Ottoman occupation of the western parts of his domain and was thus able to concentrate his efforts on creating a standing army and halting Uzbek incursions from the east.

The Safavids were established Shi'ite Islam as a state religion of Iran, which became a major factor in the emergence of unified national consciousness’ among the various ethnic and linguistic elements of the country.

The founder of dynastyIsmail I, as a head of Sufis of Ardabil won enough support from the local Turkmens and other disaffected heterodox tribes to enable him to capture Tabriz from Ak Koyunlu, an Uzbek confederation, and in July 1501Ismail was enthroned as shah of Azerbaijan.

After the death of ShahAbbas I (1629) the Safavidsdynasty lasted for about a century, but except for interlude during the reign of ShahAbbas II (1642-66) it was a period of decline.

The Safaviddynasty, of Turkish origin, is generally considered to have lasted from 1502 to 1737, and under ShahIsmail's rule the Shi'ite doctrine was imposed as a state religion.

The Safavids continued the attempts of the Ilkhanids to foster closer diplomatic ties with the European powers, in order to cement alliances against the Ottomans.

Early Safavid painting combined the traditions of TimuridHerat and Turkoman Tabriz to reach a peak in technical excellence and emotional expressiveness, which for many is the finest hour in Persian painting.

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Safavids were originally from Ardebil, a town in the South Azerbaijan.

The founder of the dynasty is considered to be Sheikh Safi[addin], a Shiite spiritual leader, who lived in XIV c.

After the Safavid State was established, the territory of the state was divided into administrative units- provinces (beilarbeiliyi).

The Safavids faced the problem of integrating their Turkic-speaking followers with the native Iranians, their fighting traditions with the Iranian bureaucracy, and their messianic ideology with the exigencies of administering a territorial state.

The Safavid Empire received a blow that was to prove fatal in 1524, when the Ottoman sultan Selim I defeated the Safavid forces at Chaldiran and occupied the Safavid capital, Tabriz.

Although he was forced to withdraw because of the harsh winter and Iran's scorched earth policy, and although Safavid rulers continued to assert claims to spiritual leadership, the defeat shattered belief in the shah as a semidivine figure and weakened the hold of the shah over the qizilbash chiefs.

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Isfahan, a major city in central Iran, was the splendid capital of the Seljuq and Safaviddynasties whose legacies established Iran (formerly Persia) as the cultural heart of the eastern Islamic world in terms of language (Persian), art, and architecture.

By selecting Isfahan as his royal seat, Abbas associated his rule with an illustrious dynasty of the past, which was especially crucial in the early years of Abbas's rule when the survival of the Safaviddynasty was indeed questionable.

After the death of ShahAbbas I in 1629, the Safaviddynasty endured for about a century, but, with the exception of the reign of ShahAbbas II (1642 66), it degenerated from the heights achieved under Abbas I. Isfahan was conquered by the Ghilzay Afghans in 1722.

The SafavidDynasty came to power in approximately 1501 and lasted until the early part of the 18th century.

The major difference between the earlier Safavid and the later Timurid court painting is in the costume details, such as the headgear of the Shiiat turbans" (Shirazi-Mahajan, 147).

The bottom layer being a white veil which appears to be tied under the chin, almost kerchief style, while the top consists of a shoulder legenth veil which is pinned at the top, front of the head and it is often embroidered as well (see Figure A, B, or C).

In 1507 he occupied Iraq, immediately elevated Twelve Shiism to the national religion, and sought political reconciliation between the Turkomans (the Qizilbash, the military) and the Iranian population (the administration).

A rapid economic decline began under the last Safavids, Sultan Hussein (1694-1722), who, through religious intolerance and compulsory conversion to the Shiite faith, provoked the Sunnite parts of the empire.

During the MongolTimuriddynasty (1369­1506) Chinese influences were apparent in the development of one of Persia's greatest artistic achievements, the miniature, which was used to illustrate books of poetry, history, and romances.

The Safaviddynasty (1502­1736) produced miniatures, which now began to show the influence of Western styles; fine carpets ­ many of the finest Persian carpets are Safavid; fabrics, particularly silk; and metalwork.

The Safaviddynasty marked the beginning of Persia's artistic decline, as European influences grew stronger.